Knight of the Anteater
by SlenderMonkey
Summary: Two very distinct girls in a snow-filled city. Each one finds herself walled off from everyone else. Though profoundly different, their shared familiarity with unhappiness guides the girls into a deep, unique love.


"Have a good day, Sayuri."

"Thanks, Mom. Sayuri will be back when class is over."

Sayuri Kurata slipped on her shoes and opened the lock. Without looking back, she slipped out the door, closing it quickly, and trotted along the usual path. It was a relatively warm day in early winter, but a liberal blanket of snow already covered most of the neighborhood. There was even a thin, compacted coating of white on the sidewalk, making the ground look continuous and solid.

Sayuri gave a thin smile at seeing her hometown dusted with a fine, bright snow, but didn't open her mouth. True, it was a beautiful day, but…

_Sayuri doesn't know how to take in a nice day like this,_ she thought to herself.

It was pleasant enough outside, the air was fresh, and the girl was looking forward to the new classes she'd be taking this term. Sayuri told herself that she had every reason to be happy, when some young women her age weren't even allowed to go out and go to school. Indeed, Sayuri was much changed from the depressing days of middle school. It was then that her isolation began, and smiling became a foreign concept for her. The unhappiness she exuded only walled off Sayuri more from her peers.

But something changed as soon as she began high school. Sayuri couldn't remember exactly what it was, but putting on her new uniform for the first time and looking in the mirror gave her a sense of moving toward adulthood more than anything had before. These feelings had only intensified on Sayuri's first day at her new school.

_A grown woman wouldn't keep everyone away from her_, she had thought. _There are so many happy new faces here, and all of them, Sayuri included, are nearly adults. They can't all be unfriendly, can they?_

From that day on, Sayuri's mien and the way she carried herself in public and private was much brightened. Her parents were happy at her improvement from being the gloomy middle school student. They were still quietly irked at their daughter's invariable use of third-person for herself, but they were just glad at Sayuri's winning fight with depression. Her parents saw her even becoming outgoing enough to earn a position on her school's student council. The future of the family's only daughter looked bright.

In the years since the Kuratas' son Kazuya died, Sayuri had seemingly manifested different personae. This was possibly to deal with the loss of a young sibling she felt responsible for, according to psychologists. Much like Sayuri's persistent and childish abstaining from personal pronouns, periodically trying to act like someone different was her means of coping. It was Sayuri's way of distancing herself from the perceived failure that she was as a child. The doctors reassured her parents that she would grow out of it eventually, but they remained skeptical until Sayuri began high school.

_Things are going to turn out fine,_ she thought. _I'm almost grown up, and I'm going to be fantastic lady soon enough… That already makes me really happy._

As she got within the boundaries of her school, Sayuri noticed a nervously animated crowd of students in the front yard, and asked a familiar-looking girl in her grade what the matter was.

"It's a stray dog! It looks mean! I asked Jiro to get a teacher to deal with it, but it's blocking the main entrance," she said, not really noticing who she was talking to.

Peeking through a gap in the bodies, Sayuri saw a mangy brown dog growling softly, with teeth bared, right in front of the double doors. It wasn't so big, but…

The situation clear, Sayuri brought her hand to her mouth, wondering what a student council member should do. Just then, the worried conversations around her died down. Following the others' line of sight, Sayuri noticed a girl wearing a ribbon denoting she was in the same grade as her. She was walking confidently, with purpose, towards the mutt.

The long-haired girl held a practice sword for kendo, not one encased in foam, but a hard and cruel-looking one. Raising the wooden sword, the tall, dark stranger quickly posed and leaped forward in a lightning attack. With a yelp, the stray skidded backwards, turned, and then ran away from the crowd.

"Ohhh…"

Sayuri was sorry for the dog, but she was impressed by the courage and skill this stranger had with a blade. Looking around, Sayuri saw the onlookers gradually dispersing, and the strange girl moving through the newly-cleared entryway. Realizing that the bell was going to ring soon, Sayuri collected herself, and started to file in.

At lunch break, Sayuri finished eating early, so she decided to get some fresh air. As usual, she left by herself, the other students not giving her a second glance. The wintry wind blasted Sayuri as soon as she went outside, and she shivered, drawing the mantle of her uniform closer around her. Making for the inner courtyard, Sayuri noticed two figures bent low in the middle of the snowy ground. It was the stray dog and the girl with the wooden sword.

Sayuri saw that no one else was around, as was usual at this time of day and place. Quietly, she watched the girl scoop out the contents of a bento box, feeding it to the hungry dog by hand.

"Ahahaha! Sayuri knew you couldn't be all bad!"

Mai turned her head with a rustle of flowing black hair. The dog continued to eat, undisturbed. Now the smiling girl with the distinctive laugh walked toward her, holding her school bag in front of her nonthreateningly.

"…Who is Sayuri?" asked Mai after several seconds.

"Why, Sayuri is Sayuri! Um…"

Mai could see that the odd girl was caught off-guard.

"Uh… I… am Sayuri," said the girl, her smile fading. "Sayuri just… refers to herself in third-person. She's made it a habit."

Landing a mock blow on her own skull with a fist, Sayuri went back to beaming the bright smile she had been showing before. Mai stood up from the dog, her eyes fixed on Sayuri, but her expressionless features unreadable. Many more seconds passed, and Sayuri was about to say something when Mai spoke, barely blinking.

"…Mai Kawasumi."

"Huh?" Sayuri tilted her head.

"That's my name."

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet you, Mai!"

Mai extended her hand, and Sayuri shook it enthusiastically, but ladylike.

"Likewise," muttered Mai. "…Sayuri."

For a split-second, Mai's mouth twitched at the corners, then it was still.


End file.
